Machine for making wire screens



(No Model.)

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE SCREENS.

Patented Dec. 6, 1887.

(No Model.) I .3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' A. P. CALDWELL.

MAGHINE FOR MAKING WIRE SCREENS. No. 374,291. Patented Dec. 6, 1887.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets8heet 8.

'A.F. OALDWELL. MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE SCREENS.

No. 374,291. Patented Dec. 6, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED F. CALDWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR' MAKING WIRE SCREENS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,291, dated December6, 1887.

(No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED F. CALDWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohieago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making WireScreens; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a machine designed to manufacture wire screensby securing the cross-wires thereof to,eaoh other and to the border wireor frame by means of staples surrounding the intersections of thecrosswires and their junction with the frame, said staples beingsupplied in quantity and carried to the joints where they are needed,bent around the crossing of the screen-wires, and firmly secured, thewhole operation being automatic, thus reducing the price of such screensby avoiding the expense incurred in the ordinary course of theirmanufacture,which consists in applying and securing the staples by hand.

The machine consists, essentially, of a grooved and perforated bed-platecarried on suitable supports, the grooves of said bedplate beingarranged to receive and hold in place the border-frame and cross-wiresof the screen while the staples are being 'bent in place and securedaround said wires. These staples are carried upon a staple-carrierconsisting of a series of inclined rods attached to a movable framemounted upon rollers that travel in guiding-grooves at the sides of thebed. This carrier frame may therefore be moved over the bed after thewires to form the screen and its borderframe are in place, and as thereare as many inclined staple-carrying rods as there are intersections ofthe screenwires to be fastened,there will of course be one or morestaples suspended over each crossing. When in this position,the movementof a sliding rod at the side of the staple-carrier operates a series oflevers and allows a staple to drop astride of the screen-wires at eachintersection. The staple-carrier is then withdrawn and a platen providedon its under side with a series of downward]y-projecting dies ispowerfully forced down upon the staples, the points of which are thuscaused to follow the grooves formed for that purpose in the bed andtightly embrace the wires of the screen, thus producing at one operationa complete screen.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of themachine with the platen raised and the staplecarrier drawn out, the bedbeing ready to receive the frame and wires for a screen. Fig. 2 is asectional plan on the line :0 a: of Fig. 1, showinga portion of the bedfilled with the blocks used to form the receiving-grooves for thecross-wires, also the groove for the frame. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsection on the line x :0 of Fig. 2, the staple-carrier being run inunder the platen and in position to drop a staple at each crossing ofthe wires. Fig. 4 is an end view of the machine and illustrates theconstruction and arrangement of the devices employedin forcing down theplaten to secure the staples around the screenwires. Fig. 5 is a planview of a portion of the bed with the screen in place thereon upon anenlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a section of the bed on the line at of Fig. 5,showing its construction and the manner in which the staples are made toembrace the screen-wires. Fig. 7 is a longitudinalsection through aportion of the staple-carrier and bed, and illustrates the meansemployed for retaining the staples in posit-ion upon the inclined rods.Fig. 8 is also a 1011- gitudinal section, showing the staple-carrierwith a guide attached to conduct the released staple to its properposition astride the screen- Wires. Fig. 9 is a plan view showing therelative position of the guide, staples, and inclined rods which supportthem. Fig. 10 isa front view of the guide, showing the position of thelower staple in dotted lines.

In this machine A A represent the legs or supports upon which theoperative parts of the machine are carried, and should be of suchconstruction as to give a firm and solid base not liable to derangementfrom the shocks it may receive in the operation of the machine. Uponthese legs are placed the transverse beams B B, generally four innumber, each resting upon two of the legs, which are preferably providedwith means for ad justing the height of said beams, so that their uppersurfaces mays always be kept in proper alignment. These beams carry therectangular frame G, upon which is placed the movable plate 0, guided inits movements by the frame 0 and provided upon each side with a toothedrack, which racks engage the pinions upon the crank-shaft 0, so that byoperating this crank-shaft any part of the plate and bed which itcarries may be brought directly under the vertically-moving platen, bywhich the staples are forced around the cross wires. Firmly secured tothis movable plate C by means of bolts (4 a is the bed D. This bed, asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, hasa plane surface, except thesemicircular grooves b, formed therein to receive the frame (1 of thescreen. This groove and frame, which bounds the periphery of the screen,is of the same size and shape of the finished screen',and is shown as arectangle, that being the form commonly used for screens; but it isevident that this form may be changed to suit the shape of any screen itis desired to make. Additional depressions b. are also formed, in whichthe ends of the staples are received and turned toward each other,whenthey are forced down by the platen. Upon the top of this bed D aresecured the series of blocks D by means of screws a, which pass throughthe blocks into the bed. These blocks are of the shape and size of theinterstices between the cross -wires of the screen, and may be variedfrom a rectangular to a diamond or other shape, just as it is desired tohave the Openings in the screen, space being always left between themfor the wires. They are also provided at the corner with a groove, Z),which receives .the staples and holds them in a vertical position asthey are dropped from the staple-carrier, and guides them as they areforced down by the dies of the platen.

Along the margin of each side of the frame 0 is formed a groove, (Z,which receives and guides the wheels (1 of the staple carrier E as it ismoved over or away from the bed. This staple-carrier consists of arectangular frame, 0, mounted horizontally upon the wheels d, andprovided with a series of movable crossbars, 0, placed at the samedistance from each other as the distances between the intersections ofthe wires of the screen to be made upon the machine. Attached tothesecrossbars 0 are the inclined rods 0, equaling in number the crossings ofthe wires composing the screen, and each of sufficient length to carry alarge number of the staples e, which are placed astride the rods anddescend as they are wanted by gravity.

Hangersf are attached to and depend from the sides of the frame 0,carrying at their lower ends rock-shafts f, which rock-shafts areprovided with the bifurcated arms ea pair for each inclined rod. Thesebifurcated arms are of such length that when the rock'- shaft is swungtoward the rods one of them comes in contact with their ends andprevents the dropping off of the staples, while the other passes abovethe rod and staples; but when the shaft is rotated so as to remove thelower arm from its contact with the end of the rod and allow a staple toescape, the upper arm comes down upon the top of the rod and preventsmore than one staple escaping ateach oscillation of the rockshaft.

In order to provide a convenient means for oscillating theserock-shafts,they are each pro vided at one end with upwardly-projectingcrank-arms h, to which is pivoted the horizon tal handled bar h, slidingin suitable guides at one side of the frame 0. It is apparent from thisconstruction that a pull upon the rod h will release a staple and allowit to drop from the end of each of the inclined rods, and that, if saidstaple-carrier is in 'its proper position over the bed D, one of thesestaples will be dropped into the grooves 12 of the blocks D at eachintersection of the passages for the reception of the screen-wiresbetween said blocks, and that a reverse movement of said handled rodwill raise the upper arms, 0', of the rockshaft and allow the staples toslide down the inclined rods to take the place of those that have beendropped.

If desired, guides may be attached by the curved arm to the bars 9,crossing the carrier and supported by the hangers f. These guides arepreferably formed of thin material and slightly conical in onedirection, as shown in Fig. 10, to enable them the better to direct thepoints of the staple into the groove of the bed.

Various devices may be employed for the purpose of supplying theinclined rods of the staple-carrier with staples; but I prefer thatshown in Fig.3 of the drawings, in which Fis a box supported upon theplate 0 by suitable legs at such a height that the staple-carrier may berun under it. The bottom of this box is formed of bars 1' 2', preferablytriangular in cross-section, crossing it, and placed close enoughtogether to allow the staples to pass between them only flatwise. Suchof the staples as pass between these bars points downward will be caughtby the rods 0 of the carrier. The others will fall through between theserods and be caught by the double incline F, placed beneath and carriedto the rear, where they are taken up by the elevator G, raised, andagain emptied into the box F, the operation being continued until eachof the inclined rods has received its supply.

In order to force down and clinch the staples around the wires of thescreen, I employ the following mechanism: Firmly secured to the ends ofthe two central cross-beams, B B, and to the frame 0 are the fourvertical posts or columnsHH, which carry at the top the heavy cross-beamH,forming the resistance-piece for the toggles which operate platen I.This platen is a heavy strong metallic plate provided with guides k k,which slide upon the columns and keep the platen in its proper positionduring its vertical movements. To the under side of this platen isattached, by bolts a a" or other suitable means the die-plate IJ, inwhich are secured the removable dies at it. These dies have asemicircular recessin their lowerendsfitting theroundedend ofthestaples,and, as shown, may be changed to suit the dif ferent kinds of screensmanufactured. The die-plate L may also be readily changed to allow diesof different construction or of greater or less distances from eachother to be used.

To operate this platen and its accompanying die-plate, I pivot betweenthe flanges 0,upon its upper side, the togglearms T T, the opposite endsof these arms being pivoted to the nuts 1) p upon the screws S. Anotherpair of toggle-arms, 'l" T, are also pivoted to the nuts p at theirlower ends and to the beam H at their upper ends. The screw S has astrong collar, r, formed upon its middle, which collar is placed in theslots of the guidebar B,which guide-bar is secured at its lower end tothe platen, its upper end moving freely through a mortise in the beam H.Upon each end of the screen is placed a hand-wheel, \V,hy which it maybe revolved. It is evident that the revolution of the screw in onedirection will force the nuts 1) p apart, which movement ofthenuts,acting through the toggle-levers, will raise the platen. and that areverse movement of the screw will draw the nuts toward each other, andthus press down the platen with great force,carrying the die-plate anddies attached thereto down upon the staples with sufficient pressure tocause the points of the latter to bend around the wires of the screen inthe grooves of the bed, uniting said wires firmly at each crossing. Asthe platen and its dies require great force to accomplish its work in aproper manner, it is made so as to cover only a portion of a largescreen at a time, the latter, together with its bed, being moved alongunder the dies by means of the crankshaft 0 and its connecting-gears insuccessive sections, the pressure being applied to each as it comesunder said dies.

The operation of the machine is as follows: A border-frame, V, of thesame dimensions as the proposed screen, is formed of a bar of iron orother metal by bending it into the required shape and unitingits ends.This frame is then laid in the grooveb in the upper surface of the bedD. Vires z z are then placed in the channelsbetween the blocks D uponthe bed. These wires cross each other and project over the borderframeV, crossing on top ofit, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Thestaple-carrier E is then run over the bed and astapledropped The diesare then raised, the bed and screen moved along, and another sectionsubmitted to the impact of the dies, and so on until the whole screen iscompleted.

It will be apparent that this machine may be used not only in themanufacture of screens, but also in the production of ornamental wirefencing and other analogous articles, as its construction allows it tooperate, if desired, upon a screen or other similar structure of acertain specified width, but of unlimited length.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, the following:

1.. In a machine for making wire screens, the combination of the movableplate 0, the plate D, fixed to said plate, said plate D pro vided with agroove, 1), for the reception of the border-frame, and also providedwith indentations I), to turn ends of staples, the blocks D, so arrangedon plate D as to receive the eross'wires, and a vertically-reciprocating platen carrying a series of dies constructed to secure staples aroundsaid wires and borderframe at their intersections, as set forth.

2. In a machine for making wire screens, the bed-plate D, provided withthe groove 1) to receive the border-frame, the blocks D, ar ranged forthe reception of the cross-wires, and indentations b, for turning theends of the staples, in combination with the staple-carrier,construetedto deposit a staple at each intersection of said wires and border-frame,and the vertieally-reciprocating dies arranged to clasp and securecross-wires and border-frames 'at their intersections.

3. In a machine for making wire screens, the combination,with the staplecarrier, construeted to deposit staples singly astride the cross-wiresof said screen, of the hopper F, supported on the plate 0 at asufficient height to allow the staple-carrier to run under it, andprovided with the crossbar t", the double incline F, and the elevator G,substantially as set forth.

4. In a wire-screen-making machine, the supports A, cross-beam B, andframe 0, supported on said beams, in combination with the movable plate0, crankshaft C, and gear connected therewith for moving plate 0, thegrooved bed D, secured to said plate, and the blocks D, arranged uponthe bed, constructed to form channels for the reception of thecrosswires of the screen, the staple-carrier E, and the dies at,substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine for making wire screens, the movable plate 0, providedwith the trackgrooves d, and the grooved bed D,secured to said plate, incombination with the staple-carrier E, provided with wheels (1, runningin grooves (Z of plate 0, and the dies a, substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine for making wire screens, the combination, with the plate0, of 'the IIO movable staple-carrier E, provided with a series ofcross-bars, and the bifurcated stops 6,

adapted to deliver the staples singly from said inclined rods,substantially as set forth.

7. In a sereenmaking machine, the eombination, with the movablestaplecarrier E, having inclined rods, of the hopper F, having a bottomcomposed of barsi the inclined spout F, and elevator G, adapted todeposit the staples upon the inclined rods of the carrier, substantiallyas shown and described.

8. In a wire -screen making machine, the vertically-reeiprocating platenprovided with the die-plate secured thereto, and the removable dies an,in combination with the bed D,

to the rotating shaft f, which shaft is operated by the arms b and I),and the guides g, constructed to conduct the staple after leaving therods to the grooves of the bed, substantially as set forth.

10. In a screen-making machine, the combination, with the frame C, thecolumn A, beam H, platen I, die-plate L, and the movable dies n n, ofthe device for operating said dies, consisting of. the toggle-lever,screw and band wheels attached to said lever, and the bed-plate D,having grooves b, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

A. F. OALDWVELL.

X'Vitnesses:

H. A. AMEs, J. L. J ONES.

